755 
The True Reason for Food Shortage 
Tresident Wilson has Avarned the people of the 
.United States that the whole world is facing a food 
crisis. The warning has been repeated hy oflieial 
anthority all over this eonntiy. With the warring 
nations of Enroi>e the constantly decreasing food 
suiiply has been the soui’ce of general concern and 
alarm. Whatever legitimate excuses there may he 
for decreased production in Europe at this time, the 
official acknowledgment of a shortage in America 
is the strongest indictment that could he written 
agaijist our system of distribution. Our food deal¬ 
ers and speculators, our hoards of trade and pro¬ 
duct' exchanges, are the defendants in this ca.se. 
The i)eople are rhe complainants. With our rich re¬ 
sources of diversified soil, varied, climate, copious 
rainfall and wealth of sunshine we could feed the 
whole world and have to spare. We have facilities 
for curing, storing and transportation that enable 
us to save wisely, to preserve safely and to disti-ihute 
cheapl.v. Yet food Avastes on the farms, and chil¬ 
dren hunger for it in the cities. Our .system of 
distribution keeps the farmer poor and the consumer 
hungry. To admit the conditions is to indict the 
system. The official indictment is, hoAvever, too 
late. The system is already tried and convicted in 
the public mind. But to propo.se a reform only for 
the duration of the Avar is either to fail utterly to 
comprehend the burden of the system to the people 
in the time of peace, or to admit the OA'crmastoring 
l)ower of the system and the helple.ssness of the 
government to attempt any permanent reform. 
We have j)ermitt(Ml the middlemen: and sjiecula- 
tors to take iK).s.ses,sion of our implements of di.s- 
tribution; and they have u.sed them to enrich them- 
.selve.s, and to defeat and debauch the interests of 
the rest of the people. To restinct the middlemen 
and gamblers in the jtresent crisis is a necessity. 
They admit it themselves. They even suspend the 
gambling on their exchanges to escape restraining 
laws. At this time it is a concession to the food 
gamblers to limit their restrictions to the time of 
war, but it is doubtful if the people will ever again 
permit them to exploit their tables even in times of 
peace. It is true that they jtlan to keep the ma¬ 
chinery in their OAvn hands (hiring the time of regu¬ 
lation and be in position to revert to the old condi¬ 
tions as soon as peace is restored, making the most 
of the situation in the meantime, but if the producers 
and eonsumer.s once enjoy the fruits of an efficient 
and economic distrihution of food the middlemen 
and gamblers Avill have some struggle eA'er again to 
drag them back to the old system that causes food 
to Avaste on the farms Avhile children starve for it 
in the city. 
A Conservative Farmer^s View 
Bailroad people, banker.s, speculators and business 
men generally are alway.s anxious to haA-e big crops in 
all years. In normal times a big crop is a loser for 
the farmer, although a money-maker for the others. 
In the present hysteria for big acreage in crop.s one 
can hardly put aside the impression that it is not all 
patriotism that makes the noise. We hear nothing of 
cut rates of freight in order to.help .the government or 
to encourage farmers to produce more for the good of 
the public and of the Avorld. The same may be .said 
of hanks and loAV interest on the banks’ funds or the 
profits of the speculators and business generally. None 
of the.se adA'ocate.s a division of profit.s, as they insist 
the farmer ought to make by groAving immense crops. 
This is not written to di.scourage planting or produc¬ 
tion. It hardly seems now that prices can be forced 
below cost of production on anj' considerable number 
of crops. It is quite likely to be on some. It seems as 
though the Western grain farmer stands a good chance 
to juake big money, not as manufacturers and business 
men are doing, but something hand.some. I.abor is 
pretty high-priced even there for profits such as satisfy 
busine.ss _ men. In other words, manufacturing and 
business is too profitable, allowing the payment of wages 
that take labor from farms, eA’en in the We.st. When 
it comes to^ the Eastern farmer, especially the dairy 
farmer, as in my own locality, it looks like a losing 
I)roposition anyAvay unless the price of milk shall be 
advanced next Winter beyond Avhat seems possible. 
Some advise us to sell off the coavs and groAV potatoes, 
wheat and other crop.s. We are in a dairy .section and 
dairying must he our principal vocation. I’otatoes 
may bring enough to make a profit next Fall and they 
maj’^ not. Do not say it makes no difference, g.roAA' them 
anyway. That is Avhat railroading and business says. 
We mu-st adjust our business Avhile Ave are helping the 
nation so as not to unnecessarily harm ourselves. It 
IS a farmers’ problem, and for the most part the far¬ 
mers will attend to it, and do it right. it. n. L. 
A Hired Man’.s Complaint 
I noticed a lot of bellowing in your paper lately on 
the labor questiejn. Any correspondent who has a little 
space left on his sheet uses it to take a rap at the 
hired man._ All the discus.sion seems to be one-sided, 
and an opinion from the other side of the fence may 
not be amiss. It may surprise your correspondents to 
learn that there are still a few efficient farm hands who 
have not been driA'en to the shops where higher Avages 
await them, and to these it seems unjust to be thus 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
eA'erlastingly walloped. You drive the men from the 
farm Avith loAv wages, and then, in your time of need, 
yciii accuse them of ingratitude for not being satisfied 
Avitli a trifling wage, but demanding what is coming to 
them. The fault does not always rest on the shoulders 
of the individual farmer, but on the community of 
farmers for not banding together and getting foir pay 
for their products, and thu.s be able to pay a decent 
Avage for labor. Of course the above is being soAvn in 
infertile ground, and is not supposed to have the effect 
of convincing the farmer that he himself is largely to 
blame for the present situation. But just sit doAvn a 
Avhile and think it over. e. l. g. 
New Jersey. 
B. N.-Y.—This man does not sign his name, but we 
break our usual rule and print his letter in order to 
shoAv that Ave are willing to print both sides. We have 
had other letters like this, but not one writer has yet 
claimed that the fanners get enough out of their biisi- 
nes.s to justify them in paying manufacffiirers’ wages. 
We can find many a farmer who has carried the hired 
help at a loss. 
A City Workman’s Idea 
I Avrite you this letter asking information how and 
Avhere I can get a job_oii a farm or a gentleman’s e.s- 
tate, doing common labor work at $(>0 a month the 
year around Avith board. I am a bricklayer by trade. 
When I work at my trade I receive 75 cents per hour, 
nr $6 per day, eight hours. There is so much broken 
time in the building business, I cannot work steadily. 
I would like to learn how to do garden work, take care 
and know how to raise chickens, milk cows and take 
care of horses. I would pay strict attention to business 
aud make myself handy and useful. I am 47 years old, 
haA-e a Avife and three children, a boy 17 years old and 
tAvo girls 10 and 21 years old. I am not afraid to 
AA’ork and have a tendency to learn quickly things that 
are shoAvn me. I would like to learn to plant and raise 
A-egetables, small fruits, and raise poultry successfully, 
as I AA-ould like to start a small farm for myself in a 
feAV years from now. If you should not be able to 
give me the proper information that I am brnkiug for 
Avould you put this letter in the hands of one Avho can? 
NeAV York. n. o. 
B. N.-Y.—This letter is like many others Avhich have 
come to us. It is a fair sample of the way some of 
these (fity workers regard farming. Here is a man 
actually "willing” to earn $60 a month on a farm Avhile 
he is learning the business ! He probably never stopped 
to think Avhat his union or his boss Avould say to a 
farmer who made such an offer to the bricklaying trade. 
Yet. Ave think, this man is sincere and has taken as 
entire truth what the fools and frights have told him 
in the city papers—about farmers growing rich on "war 
prices.” 
Patriotism and Potato Growing 
Please note the clipping regarding the offer of the 
firm Dunn & McCarthy to contract with farmers for 
2,000 bushels of potatoes at $1 per bushel, but if the 
market fell below that price they would pay the mar¬ 
ket price. I Avould like to see the gentleman who Avas 
responsible for that statement be made to earn his in¬ 
come this year (Avith everything at Avar price) rais¬ 
ing potatoes to sell at 50 cents. Endicott-.7ohnson ('o., 
one of the largest shoe concerns in the Avorld, has re¬ 
cently had plowed and fitted over 150 acres of ground 
and allotted it out in small plots to their employes 
free. Anyone cannot help seeing the effect it will make 
on our local market. Conditions are the same in the 
city of Binghamton, three miles away. Every piece 
of vacant land has been ploAved and planted. The 
neAA’spapers have taken up the campaign and arranged 
for free distribution of seeds from Washington. But 
nothing has been ofl’ered the farmer except to suggest 
the sending out of inexperienced boys and men from the 
factories to help the planting and harvesting. Anyone 
would think to read the papers that the Avorld Avas go¬ 
ing to .starve because of a shortage in small garden 
stuff that is perishable aud keeps only a feAV days. 
The market gardener whose cultivated area is limited, 
cannot adjust himself to raising cereal crops, etc., of 
which there i.s a shortage. 
‘Samuel Gompers (head of Federation of Labor) in 
an article in the May issue of the World’s Work, says: 
"We hold that if workers may be asked to give more 
exhausting service in time of national peril or emer¬ 
gency than the principles of human Avelfare Avarrant, 
that service should be asked only Avhen accompanied by 
increased safeguards and guarantees,” etc. That is the 
attitude of organized labor. The farmer should demand 
the same; when he takes all the risk he should demand 
at least fair profit for his labor. I have read with 
much interest your articles on ‘‘Patriotism and the 
Farmer,” and others in your most valuable paper. 
Keep up the good fight and may success be yours. 
W. B. O. 
Give the College Student a Show 
In speaking of college farm labor, I might be 
capable of shedding a little light on the subject. I haA-e 
noticed Avith intense interest that most of the comments 
in regard to this question have been decidedly against 
the advisability of hiring college student-s for farm 
labor. It seems that a large percent of the ‘‘old guard” 
in the agricultural industry are prejudiced against stu¬ 
dent labor. I find this to be the ca.se in this A-icinity, 
and have judged likcAvise of other communities from the 
opinions voiced in this paper. The report from the 
Avoman farmer on page 696 wa.s especially interesting. 
I am inclined to think that thi.s lady would judge all 
student labor to a certain degree according to her ex¬ 
perience Avith this one man. Of course there are dudes 
and feministic men in all Avalks of life, but VAm should 
not expect to find all college men to be such characters 
as this particular one, whom the lady mention.s. There 
is a certain farmer in this neighborhood who has heard 
of a student’s lack of experience being the cause of a 
bad accident on a farm this Spring. This farmer take4 
particular pains now to advise his friends that “they 
are taking an awful big cbance in hiring one of those 
college boys.” 
Being interested in the Avelfare of these young men 
in their attempts to serve the nation as' they best 
can, I feel it my duty to try to di.squalify some of 
rhe.se fears of the veterans of the soil. In the first 
place I would advise all farmers, Avho propose to hire 
students for the Summer, to look up the student’s 
record at college before doing so. That old doctrine 
(ff Thomas Carlyle’s, which states that a truly great 
man in one occupation can be a great man in any occu¬ 
pation, is a good one to consider, and it is strikingly 
true on a smaller scale in the present situation. There 
are about 20 students from a local college working on 
farms in this vicinity. Half of them have little or no 
experience. That those Avho have had experience are 
making good headway requires no proof. But in 
regard to tho.se inexperienced, I find that those who had 
the best records in college studies and activities are 
making the best records on the farms. One man in 
particular, a natiA-e, of an Oriental country who had 
never even visited a farm before, Avas hired by a neigh¬ 
boring farmer this Spring. He Avas a clean-cut student 
and the farmer has nothing but praise to .speak in re¬ 
gard to his Avork on the soil. Two others who had had 
considerable agricultural experience but who were not 
far ‘‘aboA-e water” in their college AVOrk, gave up their 
duties on other farms near here before they had really 
commenced. Therefore I would judge from my ob¬ 
servations that farmers Avould not be taking ‘‘such an 
aAvful big chance” if they looked up the record of their 
prospective helper before giving him a job. F. E. K. 
Livingston (_’o., N. Y. 
The Farmer’s Side of It 
Here is an expression of opinion that came to my at¬ 
tention recently: A manufacturer telephoned a nearby 
farmer and almost demanded a piece of ground for gar¬ 
den plots for the mill men. The farmer did not like the 
idea of city men tramping around the place Sundays 
and evenings, and told the manufacturer he preferred 
to keep the land for himself rather than let it for gar¬ 
dens. The manufacturer insist('d it Avould be the 
“patriotic” thing for the farmer to do, and added that 
it AA'as not a money-making scheme because his men 
Avould sell their extra produce at cost. The farmer 
came back Avith the statement that he had .sold for cost 
for 20 years. 
A friend of mine in the drug business .said that he 
AA-elcomed all (his garden AV-ork by city folks for tAAO 
reasons: 
1. They Avould learn that to produce a crop means 
AAmrk. 
2. They Avould buy a lot of his liniment. 
Poultry keepers are up against a big proposition Avheii 
they huy grain. Scratch feed noAV costs $a.,50 p(>r 100 
Ib.s. The only thing that Ave huy that is reasonable is 
hay, good clover and Timothy mixed at $19.,50 per ton. 
I am ashamed to write that farmers buy hay, but it is 
the truth here in Bhode Island. We usually sell hay, 
hut for the last fcAv years have been keeping more stock 
and have more of the farm ploAved up than is best. 
At our last Grange meeting the topic was "World 
Peace.” I am proud to say our Grange stands for 
peace, believing that men who clamor for war should go 
first. One motto expressed wa.s: “In time.s of war— 
prepare for peace.” j p c 
Bhode Island, o. 
The Patriotic Farmers’ Fund 
Many readers have asked u.s about the Patriotic Far¬ 
mers’ Fund which is being loaned from Utica, XeAv 
\ork, Me gUA-e a statement about this organization on 
page 679. 
I'he secretary, Marc W, Gole, now tells us that in¬ 
cluding May 22nd $1.57,779.25 had been loaned to far¬ 
mers. The number of loans wa.s l.,552, and the average 
amount of the loan a little over $101. There are 521 
local loan committees and 265 banks acting a.s agents 
for the fund, while 180 banks have loaned money. The 
amount loaned for the purchase of fertilizer Avas $15.- 
610.25 and the total number of acres planted' under thi.s 
loan Avas 18,152, 
In order to obtain one of these loans it has been 
nece.ssary for the borroAver to make out a detailed state¬ 
ment of his financial condition, the use to which he 
proi)ose.s to i>ut the money, his quiilification as a far¬ 
mer; and he must obtain morsil backing for character 
from Avell-knoAvn people. It Avas of course nece.ssary 
to do tills in order to jiut the loan on a businesslike 
basts and protect those Avho put up this money. The 
loans have been small and luive apparently been u.se(l 
chiefly for the purcha.se of fertilizer and seed. The bor¬ 
rower is obligeii to .sign a note as .security for the loan 
and this note gives the Loan Association a lien on th(‘ 
crop which is groAving for the money thu.s borroAved. 
We have had a number of letters from our readers 
complaining about the terms of this loan and the fact 
that^ it Avas limited! to ,$150. The whole thing was 
hastily organized, of nece.ssity, as time was short if 
any ■J5ervice was to be rendered- this year. The loans 
are still going out at the rate of about $15,000 a day. 
The manager.s hope to secure through this loan an ad¬ 
ditional planting of food crops of about 40,000 acres 
and they expect la-fore the middle of June to have 
loaned about .$.‘100,000. 
Farm Crops in New York 
_ The reports of the New York -State Food Commis¬ 
sion show that New York f.armers have this year largely 
increased their acreage of bread-producing crops and 
potatoes. 
Of course any .statement now is largely an estimate, 
as many of these crop.s have not been planted, but it 
is expected that .*182,840 acres will be put into pota¬ 
toes. This is an increase of 77,191 acres over last 
year. The acreage in corn will be greater than ever 
before in the State. The increase in beans will also 
be very large and buckwheat promise.s to have a large 
increase. There has been a greatly increa-sed acr(mge 
ill Alfalfa, while many of the old grass lamls will this 
year be ploAved up and plant(xl to corn or potatoes. The 
farmers report 76.‘1,651 ton.s of hay left over from last 
year and this partly accounts for the fact that a large 
acreage in raeadoAvs Avill be ploAved and put into other 
crops. 
This Food Supply Commission recently purchased 
7,000 bushels of buckAvheat for seed. This is dis¬ 
tributed to_ farmers at cost with the freight charges 
added. This year NeAV York farmers are planning to 
sow over .S00,0(X) acres of buckAvheat. This is a good 
crop to help out the grain supply, for buckwheat will 
grow on rather poor ground and can be put in at a sea¬ 
son which would be too late for other grain crops. The 
Commission had 22 _ tractors at work on New York 
farms. These machines are sent out to communities 
Avhich ask for them on a rental basis and probably the 
u.se of the tractor Avill so advertise its value that the 
machine will be bought in the community where it i.s 
now working and kept there. 
It is evident that New York farmers are doing their 
full share to help out on the food problem and many 
of them are at work under hard conditions of weather, 
labor and other circum.stanees. If the season is a 
favorable one New York bids fair to produce a record 
crop. 
